The restaurant is slated to open in late 2014, according to Greg Waters, senior manager of marketing and communications for Shake Shack.

Details have not yet been released about the Chicago location's menu, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it's similar to the original. Here are 5 reasons we're excited for the arrival of Shake Shack in Chicago.

1. The burgers. "They serve the best fast-food burger that I’ve ever had. Everything tastes like it’s been grilled in butter," said Elite Truong, an intern for RedEye's sibling site Metromix.

3. The custard. There are only a few custard shops in town -- Scooter's, Lickity Split -- and as far as we're concerned, more is more. Shake Shack uses its frozen custard to make shakes, floats and concretes (custard with toppings and mix-ins). Creative concrete options at other locations include Jelly's Last Donut made with vanilla custard, strawberry preserves, cinnamon sugar and doughnuts from NYC's Doughnut Plant. Maybe there's an opportunity to pair up with a local doughnut shop here for something similar? Here's hoping ...

The University of Illinois' rescinded job offer to a professor and a controversy over a faculty blog at Chicago State University helped land the two schools on a 2014 "worst of" list for student and faculty free speech rights.